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Gonzalez victory sullied by low voter turnoutBy Drew SwanAfter months of preparation, weeks of campaigning, and hours of greeting voters at the polls, the 1997 campaign for Ward One Alderman came to an end in seconds. At 8 p.m. on Tues., Nov. 4, a state official at Dwight Hall reported the days' voting tallies to a handful of supporters and election employees. Without much fanfare he announced the results of the Ward One election: Julio Gonzalez, CC '99, 261; Robert Kokta, BK '00, 81.
While Gonzalez's win was decisive, his mandate came from less than 14 percent of all eligible voters. Republican Registrar John Egley, BR '00, reported that 1911 residents of Ward One were eligible to vote on Tuesday. However, only 342 (18 percent) of Ward One's registered voters cast a ballot. This is well below the unofficial average turnout of 29.5 percent of all city elections. On election day, the candidates increased efforts to gain support after only 160 votes had been counted at 3 p.m. "It's very slow," Gonzalez reported. "You can knock on doors and get your message out. All you can do is just hope people come out." Olivia Martson, who lost the Democrat Ward Two primary in September to Jelani Lawson, MC '96, joined Kokta to lend her support to his campaign. "The low voter turnout is really the result of low vested interests in the community," Martson said. Gonzalez speculated that the less heated mayoral race probably reduced voter interest. "The way people see it, nothing's at stake," he said. Kokta echoed Gonzalez's frustration. "I was hoping voter turnout would have been greater given the fact that this was a contested race," he said. Yale's low voting total was, however, consistent with recent elections. In 1993, 14 percent of registered Ward One voters went to the polls. Kokta did better than the 1995 Republican candidate, who got only eight percent of the vote against Josh Civin, CC '96. Kokta's 81 votes accounted for over 23 percent of all votes cast. The low turnout could not be attributed to a lack of campaigning, though. By the time the polls closed, the two candidates had been standing outside Dwight Hall for nearly 14 hours. Gonzalez and Kokta spent the day in rain and shine, greeting voters with small flyers, and making their last-minute sales pitches. After the votes were counted, Kokta addressed his democratic challenger."Best of luck to you. Congratulations," Republican Kokta said as he shook the Democratic victor's hand. "I'm excited that I won," Gonzalez said. "I hope that the important issues affecting New Haven came out in the campaign so we can work on them together." Kokta was disappointed by his loss. "Of course I am saddened by the results. I think we worked hard.... Still, I believe we showed that not all Yale students are satisfied by the status quo." Looking back on the election Kokta said "I think we should have better realized how the machinery worked to my opponent's advantage and started earlier to construct our campaign." In addition, Kokta believes that Gonzalez had a huge advantage in having local Democrats behind him from the beginning of the campaign. Gonzalez attributed his success to his staff and platform. "I spent more time here in New Haven. I just had more experience," he said. Despite his loss in the election, Kokta plans to remain quite active in New Haven politics. "I hope to continue to expose the deep-seated problems of our city and political system, as well as provide possible solutions," he said. Gonzalez admired his opponent's campaign. "I have to thank Bob for increasing the level of debate. Running against him was a good challenge that I hope will envigorate future contests for the position."
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